The 2013 NBA offseason is nearly half over and with most of the major free agents signed, the winners and losers of the offseason have emerged. It should be noted however that last year’s major moves didn’t stop until two days before the season began when the Houston Rockets acquired James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

So while a lot still can change, here are the 10 teams who’ve had the most productive offseasons so far:

Overview: The major move of the Sixers’ offseason occurred in mid-May when they announced the hire of Sam Hinkie as president of basketball operations and general manager. Hinkie comes from the Houston Rockets’ general manager Daryl Morey’s school of basketball operations and the moves he’s made so far this offseason signal a similar approach. The Sixers have acquired young talent, added draft picks, and assured they will be one of the worst teams in the league next season before what should be one of the best draft classes in years. They’re rebuilding the right way and the benefits should be apparent in a few seasons.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Corey Brewer returns to Minnesota after being drafted by the team in 2007.

Overview:The Timberwolves made their already high-power offense even more dangerous this offseason when they acquired Martin and Brewer and resigned Chase Budinger. Point guard Ricky Rubio will now have plenty of 3-point options strolling around the perimeter and the return of Kevin Love should place Minnesota back into the Western Conference playoff picture. They are still in negotiations with center Nikola Pekovic,who is a restricted free agent and his resigning will be critical to the team’s success as their defense would struggle to survive without his presence.

Overview: The Pacers accomplished objective number one of their offseason when they quickly resigned power forward David West. Since they locked him up, the Pacers have been busy adding depth to their bench. Watson and Sloan shore up the guard position and the recent acquisition of Scola gives them one of the best bench big men in the league. They’re stockpiling talent for hopefully another battle against the Miami Heat in next season’s conference finals and, so far, they look to be doing a pretty good job at it.

Golden State Warriors

Andre Iguodala makes the Warriors a contender in the Western Conference.

Overview: The Warriors addition of Iguodala makes them an impressively deep team as emerging contributor Harrison Barnes will most likely move to the bench and provide a spark with the second unit. The loss of Jack will definitely impact the team, but Douglas should be able to lessen the blow. This team is still led by oft-hurt players and their success will be directly linked to their relative health. But if they can stay healthy, then the Warriors should be a contender in the Western Conference.

Overview: The Suns were able to wrangle Bledsoe away from the Los Angeles Clippers and now they have a young, exciting point guard for the future. The unloading of Scola also brought in young talent and picks to help the Suns gain some of the best roster flexibility in the league. The Suns, who most likely will struggle this season, will be an interesting team in a few years under new head coach Jeff Hornacek.

Overview: The Cavaliers “won” the Bynum free agency sweepstakes and they seem determined to make a playoff push this season under new head coach Mike Brown. They made a surprise move when they drafted Bennett with the first overall pick, but his potential and play style is exactly what this roster needs. If All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving and Bynum can stay healthy, then the Cavaliers should be able to work their way into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Brooklyn Nets

Pierce, Garnett, and Terry make the Nets contenders in the Eastern Conference.

Overview: It would be an understatement to say the Nets are going for it this season. Brooklyn made the biggest splash of the offseason when they acquired Pierce and Garnett from the Boston Celtics and they now seem ready to become a contender under rookie head coach Jason Kidd. This is still an old team which could breakdown at any time and they gave up a lot of draft picks to make this roster possible. But the Nets will be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference if the roster meshes quickly and point guard Deron Williams returns to the All-NBA level play he’s displayed during short stretches in Brooklyn.

Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks were able to sign Paul Millsap to a reasonable deal this offseason.

Overview: The Hawks may not be much better than they were last year, but their roster is unquestionably in a better position than a year ago. The Hawks were able to resign Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver to reasonable deals, let Smith and his questionable shooting walk to Detroit, agreed to two of the best deals of the summer with Millsap and Brand, and they drafted two exciting young prospects in Schroeder and Nogueira. Atlanta quietly had one of the best offseasons in the league and fans of the Hawks should be excited about their future.

Overview: The Clippers were able to negotiate one of the best non-player acquisitions of the summer when they worked out a deal with the Celtics for head coach Doc Rivers. Rivers will act as both head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations for the Clippers and his leadership already made an impact when Chris Paul quickly decided to resign with the team. The loss of Bledsoe was an unavoidable disappointment, but the addition of sharp-shooters Redick and Dudley will help improve the Clippers’ sometimes stagnant half-court offense . This team will be a contender in the Western Conference if not for unforeseen circumstances.

Houston Rockets

Dwight Howard makes the Rockets one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

Overview: The free-agent prize of the summer found a new home in Houston when Howard agreed to a contract with the Rockets. The dominant-when-healthy center instantly makes the Rockets a title contender and he should be able to grow with James Harden, Jeremy Lin, Chandler Parsons, and Omer Asik. The past year has been a master-class in rebuilding by Rockets general manager Daryl Morey as he turned young talent and picks into two superstars. Besides the loss of Robinson, the Rockets were able to get significantly better this offseason without hurting their future and that’s a rare thing to do in today’s NBA.

98 Comments

Is there a club or fraternity of New York Knick hater out there?I think they have done a pretty good job in the draft and free agency,but oh what do we Knick fans know? I will definitely take my lead from you…..

I would give the #1 to the Brooklyn Nets. Not only did they bring in Kevin Garnet and Paul Pierce, but they have potential to maybe be like the Lakers when they were good and winning. Leadership and strategy I with Brooklyn. How they use it is here to find out…

Its all about raptors give me a reply and i will counter it right away , in any way, raptors are looking great and will surely have a playoff seed this 2013-2014 season, no question about it with kyle lowry,demar derozan, RUDY GAY, Amir Johnson, summer league MVP Jonas Valanciunas. BACK UP as DJ augustin or Dwight Buyucks, Terrence Ross,Landry Feilds or steve Novak , Tyler Hansbourough and improving Aaron Gray…. Also we actually just signed Austin Daye who help our team with a stronger back up…Give it up for Toronto Raptors!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only ring Detriot will get is an O-Ring to straigthen those rim bangers they got this off season Kyrie will break Jennings ankles too and end his no defec
nse playing butt carreer and Bynum-Andy V. is better than whoever the BisHtons can put on the court so quit your whineing and eat some cheese to stop that shooting constipation you’er going to be having

The CAVALIERS are the biggest winners of this entire offseason. A healthy Kyrie and Bynum (1 & 5) combo is going to be scary…Break outs seasons for Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson…with a healthy Varajeo and Bennett…then add Jarrett Jack! Cavs will be a top 5 team in the EAST…book it!

i thought the name of the article was the most productive teams of the off season, atlanta made a laterell move and philly was counter productive. Now dont get me wrong maybe they will win big down the line with next years draft but its always the possiblity that they will not. all risky moves if you ask me. And no Detroit love, i mean the suns got a shot out. Com’on

Alle Teams made great moves. For next season not all Teams will be successfull. Clippers have a better roster and a better Coach. I think they can make it into the finals. Houston will need this season to get along with Dwight. The Nets will be second or third in the east. The cavs, philly and all other Teams did well in Terms of being a good Teams in like 2 years. But not this season.

All I believe are better than the 76ers off season activity. I would even say the Denver Nuggets have had a more productive offseason with additions of Robinson (FA), Hickson (FA), Foye (Trade), Arthur (Trade) and Mosgov (Re-Sign)
while losing Iguodala (Trade), Koufos (Trade) and Brewer (FA).

I’m sorry but this article is absolutely horrible. Where the heck are the Pistons? Yes, I am a Pistons fan but to suggest the Suns and the Sixers have had a more productive offseason than the Pistons is absolutely insane. We continue to get no respect..

The 76ers & Hawks? Ummm I agree with others bout the Pistons but what about the Lakers? They’re quietly building that young roster everyone ragged them about! Chris Kaman, Nick Young, Jordan Farmar, Ryan Kelly & Wesley Johnson gives us youth and the RIGHT kinda center the Lakers need. Kaman with the right team is a double-double kinda player. Not 17-12 more like 12-11but that’s what they need if they want Gasol to be a major player. I also believe that the other 4 younger players will provide a spark off the bench. Now the Lakers just need a quality starting small forward and they could be serious contenders depending on Kobes health. Miami just made a HUGE move too by getting Oden. Whether he busts or thrives, it’s a low risk high reward signing especially with the moves Indiana has made.

Biggest moves are obviously the New Jersey Nets and the Clips. If you can rest KG and Pierce and still have DWill, JJ, AK47, Blatche and Lopez, then you know you have a dangerous team. But the best part I think is bringing in the Boston guys who happened to throw all their egos since 2008 just to win a ring. If KG, Pierce and Terry backed Kidd up, then they could change the whole atmosphere in the Nets locker room. As for the Clips, with CP3 immediately signing after they got Doc, you know he wants to win. Would’ve loved for Bledsoe to stay, but Doc can squeeze the best out of this team.

I’m surprised the Pistons aren’t on here. Jennings and Smith aren’t the best shooters, I’ll admit. But Jennings will have Chauncey Billups as a mentor and Smith brings veteran leadership to the squad. Plus they drafted pretty well.

WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED…the NBA has always SNUBBED the Pistons…they have never given them(us) any respect since Isiah Thomas days …they hated him and wont let us forget it…a lot of teams claim “us against the world”…but it truly applies to the Pistons…Respect…what is that…???…we refuse to continue to be the leagues whipping boy(team)…with that in mind, we will show it on the court…we will kick butt and take names….and for the record ..you are truly hated by all Piston fans “BURN SLOW NBA MEDIA AND FRIENDS”….!!!!!!

Are you kidding me? Detroit is gonna have the worst FG% next year, J-Smoove and Jennings are both chuckers. Jennings had that one 55 pt game, after that hes been a chucker. Detroit isn’t going very far, 8th seed the most, only because of the relatively weaker East.

Plus the Sixers had one of the least productive offseasons? Haha they lost any talent they had really besides Turner and Hawes. Holiday was their best player, Young, Wright, and a healthy Bynum are all good players as well. They may get Wiggins in 2014, I guess that’s a win but this offseason has been terrible for them. Adding potential in replace of secure talent is not the way to be “productive”.

I think the Rockets had to win so all of the idiotic unintelligent basketball fans didn’t blow up these comments. I don’t think they did enough to become title contenders, especially in the west. Dwight doesn’t have the drive to become a champion. Teams like OKC, LAC, SAS, and possibly MEM & GSW will still beat Houston in the West. The Pistons definitely got snubbed here, adding Smith, Jennings, & Billups they put themselves in the mix for that 8th spot more so than Cleveland, I believe. Also the Lakers may have lost Dwight but they made some good additions this offseason as well, adding depth, size, and youth with Farmar, Nick Young, Wesley Johnson, and Marcus Landry along with a very serviceable Chris Kaman. If they can get healthy and stay that way I wouldn’t count them out as a playoff team. But I think the Pistons actually made the most progress of any team in the NBA this offseason.

76ers will be much worse than last year, dumping an all star point guard and an injured all star center for a rookie point guard and an injured rookie center.
The Timberwolves break even on gains vs losses.
The Hawks break even AT THE VERY BEST by gaining Millsap and Brand but losing Smith and Harris.
The Pacers get Scola for pretty much free (which is very solid), but other teams had much bigger jumps than them.

Meanwhile, Detroit upgrades at the PG position, and adds a borderline allstar.
Dallas upgrades at PG, SG, C and the bench. They exchange Collison for Calderon, . They exchange Mayo and Jones for Ellis, Ellington, and Makel (which allows Carter to play SF). They exchange and injured, no-D Kaman for a near double-double player in Dalembert. Plus, they upgraded the bench from Beaubois, Jones, Morrow, Carter, Wright, and James, to Harris, Larkin, Ellington, Makel, Carter, Wright, James, and Blair. Dirk will also be healthy, adding an improvement from last year at four positions and the bench.

who ever wrote this article has clearly been living under a rock for the past month your forgetting about DETROIT who picked up Josh Smith, Brandon Jennings, Chauncey Billups , Luigi Datome , and signed their picks. WOW WORST ARTICLE EVER!

I clicked this to read what they’d say about the Pistons….. nope, no Pistons lol. But of course, he includes the Sixers, who are headed to the lottery next season smh. Teams that made improvements should be listed, not teams that are planning to bottom out for a draft pick in 2014.

With the draft picks, the free agents, and trades, Detroit should be considered on that list, and we still have Charlie V, Corey Maggette, Stucky, and added Jennings, Smith, Billups, Datome, Kcp, and the other rookie is a beast he is the sleeper for real, and all of the other role players that we have, they need to watch out for Detroit, I feel that our team is better than, Houston, the Hawks, and Chicago, I think the New Orleans did a good job, I think the clippers down graded! Stating facts people!

Detroit has a starting line up second, and a bench, open your eyes people, I even think the Knicks did a good job, and Cleveland is kind of Detroits equal, the standings will be shocking this off season!

76ers dont have a coach yet. It is August 4. Celtics have the best young coach in the NCAA.

76ers have ONE extra pick in the draft through 2019. Celtics have FOUR. Two of the 76er picks are protected. None of the Celtics are.

I’m used to the Nets moves being questioned. It’s rote nowadays for writers to note how old they are (average age: 28.9) and how they have given up picks (one of which is in 2018, five years from now). But if you’re going to base your rankings on looking to the future, I cant understand why you would rank the 76ers above the Celtics.

The tendency to reward GMs for tanking is a worrisome trend, particularly since the last time the team with the worst record won the overall No. 1 pick was 10 years ago.

Nope. Not much of an upgrade there. Wait, Joe D also maintained some cap flexibility for next year? He might not have landed the biggest fish, but to essentially turn one mediocre starter and two guys that almost never played into this haul and not lose cap flexibility is quite impressive. For those that haven’t heard, Joe D is back. The Pistons have a future again.

Pistons didn’t get that much better. They didn’t get reset for rebuilding and the draft and they didn’t get much closer to a championsship, they are a medicore team at best. Billups is old and B Jennings and JSmooth are overrated and tied too to much money.

I’m a big Hawks fan, and Danny Ferry has done a good job bringing more muscle inside. However, at the same time, he has considerably weakened the wings defensively by constantly. Since ridding the team of Johnson, Williams, and now Smith, Ferry has yet to find someone to stop/slow down opposing swing men (i.e. LeBron, KD, Kobe, Pierce…)

mh.. after the draft and free-agency almost every team looks better and certainly feels stronger.. but if they really are, we’ll see.
I doubt the Nets are going to be a contender… they certainly will not lose a first-round series against an undermanned bulls team anymore now they got KG…

The Cavs and the Suns are the big winners so far. Cleveland can push for the East Finals if Bynam stays healthy and Irving keeps improving. The Suns will be scary in 2-3 years, Alex Len will win an MVP within 5 years.

the bad thing, every guy (like me) who started to be very enthousiast with the rebuilding rockets process since a few times ( lin-parsons-harden-asik is niiiice) will be called bandwagon boy. I’m fan of the rockets since 93

i have nothing against howard, a lot of people tells he did a mistake but if you are talking only basketball, he did the right choice. a young talented super core, a LOT BETTER than the lakers one, less hype bs and toxic media coverage, better rebuild, better ambiance. and the coach, my god, the coach.
the moment they signed d’antoni, it was over.

Are you sure about that ? The Lakers yes they won’t have a chance, but the Rockets have a way better chance than the Knicks, Clippers, Lakers, Celtics at winning a championship. With players like Harden and Howard playing together I’m pretty sure they can make it to the Western Conference Final at least.

LOL…I know right. The Detroit Pistons are seriously overlooked in this. They added Josh Smith, Billups, Brandon Jennings, KCP(Draft), Datome(Italian league MVP), they signed Mitchell, they resigned Bynum, and they tried to acquire Rajon Rondo and Rudy Gay! Dumars turned the team into a playoff team in just this summer.

the writer can’t write how good the move was to let J Smooth go to Detroit because of is inconsistent play and weak shot selection and then marvel what a great move Detroit made by pickimg him up… they will be 8th seed at best but their ceiling is not far higher, that’s what is concerning.